State senators voted Monday to let special interests give candidates more cash, even as they threw a...

The citizen referendum against Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion has begun.
The United Republican Alliance of Principled Conservatives, which is headed up by former Sens. Frank Antenori and Ron Gould, took out petitions for a citizen referendum this morning at the Secretary of State’s Office in Tucson. The group has until Sept. 11 to collect 86,405 valid signatures to refer Brewer’s expansion plan to the November 2014 ballot.

HB2305, an omnibus elections bill, dramatically raises the number of signatures that Green Party, Libertarian and other third-party candidates will need to qualify for the ballot. Whereas signature requirements have historically been based on the number of registered votes a party has, the bill equalizes the requirements for all parties.

Bleary eyed Arizona lawmakers took final votes on a slew of bills late Thursday evening and early Friday morning as they wrapped up the Legislature’s annual regular session.
The often contentious session that lasted nearly six months ended as most do, with some laughs and somewhat delirious attempts to continue following procedure and to sine die, which came at 12:59 a.m. June 14, the 151st day of the session.

After a bitter and prolonged debate that ripped apart Republican majorities in the House and Senate, Arizona lawmakers approved Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion proposal and sent it to her for her signature.

Gov. Jan Brewer confirmed that she and the legislative members of her pro-Medicaid expansion coalition crafted a plan to oust Senate President Andy Biggs and House Speaker Andy Tobin from their leadership positions when lawmakers went into special session.